PM Balen Shah Steps In to Revive Stock Market, Orders Immediate Capital Market Reforms
Amid a prolonged decline in Nepal’s stock market, Prime Minister Balen Shah convened an emergency meeting with regulators, brokers, and investors, directing authorities to fast-track long-awaited reforms aimed at restoring investor confidence.
Prime Minister Balen Shah held a high-level meeting with representatives from SEBON, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), brokers, and investors on Sunday to discuss measures to revive Nepal's declining stock market. Stakeholders urged the government to introduce intraday trading, short selling, improve the price discovery mechanism, ease margin lending, and reform the capital gains tax system to boost liquidity and restore investor confidence. Following the discussions, Shah directed SEBON and NRB to remove policy and technical hurdles delaying market reforms. He also instructed authorities to accelerate the restructuring of the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), encourage greater participation from institutional investors, and finalize regulations allowing Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) to invest in the secondary market. Brokers described the meeting as a positive step, expressing hope that long-awaited reforms will be implemented soon.